[jjamez]

So Saturday sees Town with their first game under new management, hoping for that bounce that sometimes comes with it. As usual Town have gone down the untried and untested route, appointing a young manager yet again. This time, following in the footsteps of fellow inexperienced managers such as David Wagner, Jan Siewert, Carlos Corberan, Danny Schofield and Mark Fotheringham, is 74 year old Neil Warnock. Okay he's not inexperienced, he's been a manager for as long as I've been alive, actually, scratch that he started in 1980 with Gainsborough Trinity, over 10 years before I was born, he was appointed Town manager for the first time in July 1993, still before I was born, and led Town to promotion to the first division via the play offs and left not long after.

Known for being the scourge of referees up and down the country, he's mostly known for his time as Sheffield United manager, where he spent 8 years, guiding them to the Premier League, he resigned when the Blades were relegated to take time out of football but it wasn't long before he rocked up at Crystal Palace and spent 3 years at the Eagles, but left when the club went into administration. He claimed Palace would be his last job in football, but a few months after leaving Selhurst Park, he appeared at Loftus Road as manager of QPR. His QPR side were promoted to the Premier League as Championship champions in 2011 and he was sacked in 2012 as the club battled relegation. He would then talk to Town about a return, but would end up down the road as Leeds manager and would last just over a year at Elland Road before being sacked. After over a year out of football he would return to Crystal Palace but that stint lasted just a few months and he would be sacked and go back to QPR as an advisor before becoming manager once again. It was just a short term deal until the end of the season and he would once again leave. There would be another short term contract, this time at Rotherham, as the Millers fought to stay in the Championship, they would go on an 11 game unbeaten streak to remain in the division, and despite wanting to manage still in the Championship and being wanted by the Rotherham board, he ultimately decided to leave. Following the Summer out, he would go abroad to manage Cardiff. He would win promotion to the Premier League with the Bluebirds in his second season, he was unable to keep them there and would leave the following season. Warnock was appointed manager of Middlesbrough, with the club only outside the Championship relegation zone on goal difference after 38 games, they finished 17th in the league. Although initially on a short-term contract, Warnock confirmed that he would continue as manager for the 2020–21 season. He equalled the record for the most games managed in English professional football at 1,601 with a 2–0 loss to Birmingham City. Three days later he broke the record in the next match, a 3–1 loss away to Luton Town. In November Warnock left Middlesbrough by mutual consent and announced his retirement from management after 42 years in the dugout.



Until Monday 13th February 2023 when he returned to Huddersfield after 30 years.


And what a job he has on his hands after that 'performance' against Stoke, I was going to write a bit about it, but if they can't be arsed then neither can I, there wasn't much to write about it either.




Season so far

Way back in the sun of July, Birmingham began the season away at recent play off semi-finalists Luton and held the hatters to a 0-0 draw in John Eustace's first game in charge. Goals from Scott Hogan and Przemyslaw Placheta gave Birmingham City their first win under new boss John Eustace as they beat us 2-1 at St Andrews, with Danny Ward scoring for Danny Schofield's Town side. Former Town loanee Danel Sinani was amongst the scorers as Norwich knocked Brum out of the league cup on penalties. Sinani and Jacob Sorensen both scored in the 45th minute before Jonathan Leko pulled one back for the visitors. Jonathan Tomkinson scored an own goal to send the tie to penalties, which the Canaries duly won. Cardiff City extended their unbeaten run over Birmingham to eight matches as they deservedly took three points in a one-sided 1-0 win in the Welsh capital. Cardiff led after a fast start when Jaden Philogene tapped home from close range on 16 minutes, finishing a sweeping Bluebirds attack. Back on home ground they welcomed Watford to the midlands and shared the spoils as Rey Manaj equalised after George Hall had given the Blue the lead. The Blues then welcomed the blues of Wigan to St Andrews and saw the visitors were soon reduced to 10 men as Joe Bennett received a straight red card, but it would be the visitors that grabbed the win despite their man disadvantage as Nathan Broadhead scored in the 82nd minute. A trip to New York was next on the cards and it would result in nil points yet again as experienced defender Richard Wood scored a brace, the Millers also missed a penalty which would have further compounded the misery for the Blues. Birmingham finished August off with a rematch against Norwich and took the lead midway through the second half thanks to Scott Hogan, but the Canaries managed to turn the game on its head, firstly Andrew Omobamidele scored an equaliser before Onel Hernandez scored in injury time to end a poor month for the Blues.



Maxime Colin's header earned Birmingham just their second league victory of the season, away at Preston, as they conceded their first goal of the Championship season and suffered their first defeat of the campaign. Scott Hogan's hat-trick swept Birmingham City past West Brom to a first victory at The Hawthorns in 18 years. Juninho Bacuna's defence-splitting pass teed up Hogan to fire Blues ahead before Jed Wallace ran on to Jayson Molumby's through-ball and slipped the ball past John Ruddy to level. Hogan scored again after another fine Bacuna assist to restore their lead and then toe-poked his third from an acute angle through the legs of goalkeeper David Button. Brandon Thomas-Asante's penalty gave the Baggies late hope after he was brought down by Dion Sanderson, but Blues held on for back-to-back wins. They rounded the month off with an entertaining 0-0 draw at home to 10 man Coventry who saw Gustavo Hamer sent off in the final minutes. October was a busy month for the Blues and they began by travelling to South Yorkshire to face Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Oli McBurnie gave the hosts the lead in the 60th minute, but Troy Deeneys first goal of the season gave the Blues a share of the spoils. In a quick turn around, the Blues travelled further North to face Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. Chuba Akpom scored the only goal of the game to lift Boro out of the relegation places and climb above Birmingham. They returned home to face Bristol City and it was a return to winning ways in comprehensive fashion as they recorded a 3-0 win, with goals coming from a Auston Trusty brace, his first goals in English football and a goal from Wolves loanee Dion Sanderson. It was back to back victories for the Blues as they won 2-0 away at Hull in a game that was delayed due to one of the goals being too small. Troy Deeney scored from the spot before Bacuna scored his first goal of the season just after half time. Promotion chasing Burnley were next to visit St Andrews, and would take the lead through Johann Berg Gudmundsson but Scott Hogans first in goal in six games would spoil the party for the Clarets to leave the game 1-1. It would be another promotion chasing side next up for Birmingham as they headed to Lancashire to face Blackburn. Sam Gallagher put Rovers ahead before Adam Wharton scored his first goal for Blackburn, Hogan pulled one back for Brum but it wasn't enough to mount a comeback. The Blues finished the month off against second placed QPR and registered a shock result as they pulled off a 2-0 victory with goals coming from Trusty and Manny Longelo.



November began with former manager Gary Rowett visiting St Andrews as his Millwall side played out a 0-0 draw with the hosts. Brum would then head to the Potteries to face Stoke and took an early lead through Hogan before Harlee Dean made it two. Lewis Baker pulled one back from the spot to make it a nervy finish, but the Blues held on. Hogan scored early once again as Swansea visited St Andrews before Oliver Ntcham and Matt Grimes pulled the Swans ahead, a late Deeney goal saved Birmingham and shared the points between the two. The Blues' last game of November finished with the Black Cats of Sunderland leaving with 3 points as Ellis Simms and Amad Diallo put the visitors ahead, Lukas Jutkiewicz gave Blues hope on 78 minutes with his first goal in almost a year, but Sunderland survived late home pressure. The post World Cup period began with a 0-0 draw away at a rainy Blackpool before the Blues edged past Reading in a 5 goal thriller. A Troy Deeney brace put Birmingham 2-0 up inside 20 minutes before Tahith Chong scored his first of the season to make it 3, but Reading threatened a late comeback as Lucas Joao scored with 10 minutes to go and Tom Ince scored in injury time but the Blues held on. Burnley restored their lead at the top of the Championship to three points as they deservedly beat a resolute Birmingham City. Anass Zaroury and Connor Roberts, who both played in the World Cup, scored first-half goals, supplemented by an injury-time third from Nathan Tella ahead of Oscar Estupinan's late goal giving struggling Hull City a narrow win at Birmingham City to end the year.



Matt Crooks scored two goals and set up Chuba Akpom as Middlesbrough beat Birmingham City 3-1 to start the year, Chong scored no more than a consolation goal for the Blues. Bristol City won their first match at Ashton Gate since October with a 4-2 victory over Birmingham City. Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring after 17 minutes, using his chest to put the ball into an empty net, before Nahki Wells doubled the lead four minutes later. A Troy Deeney penalty narrowed the deficit before half-time after Tahith Chong was brought down in the box. But Mark Sykes scored two second-half goals for the Robins and despite Reda Khadra pulling another goal back with 14 minutes to go, it could not stop the Blues falling to a fourth straight defeat. Championship side Birmingham City were given a scare in their FA Cup third-round tie as they needed two second-half goals to come from behind and beat League One strugglers Forest Green. The fired-up hosts led 1-0 at the break after a flying start brought a stunning early strike from Ben Stevenson. But recalled striker Lukas Jutkiewicz levelled straight after the break. And new man Kevin Long hit his first goal since arriving from Burnley to book a fourth-round tie at Blackburn. Preston North End struck twice in six minutes in the first half to pile the misery on Birmingham City, who lost their fifth Championship game in a row. The visitors led early on through Ryan Ledson's strike from the edge of the box and they doubled their lead through Alan Browne's header soon after. Birmingham offered little in the way of response for much of the game, with fans going on to protest against the club's ownership as they headed for another defeat. Lukas Jutkiewicz got them off the mark with seven minutes remaining as he headed home from Maxime Colin's cross but they could not find an equaliser. The FA Cup was next, Reda Khadra gave Blues an early lead, with Bradley Dack then levelling before Joe Rankin-Costello put Rovers 2-1 up. Substitute Jordan James sent the tie to a replay. The replay went to extra time before a Trusty own goal was able to split the two sides, sending Birmingham out of the cup and leaving them winless in January. Birmingham City ended their run of five straight Championship defeats as Auston Trusty's 97th-minute header won a remarkable 4-3 thriller at Swansea. The Blues led through Scott Hogan's penalty before goals by Joel Piroe and Liam Cullen put Swansea City in front. Tahith Chong equalised for Blues before keeper John Ruddy's error allowed Piroe to add a second but Lukas Jutkiewicz's brave diving header levelled it again in the 90th minute and the Blues then found a winner when Trusty headed home Hannibal Mejbri's corner. Mejbri scored the first and made the second as Birmingham City made it back-to-back Championship victories by comfortably winning the West Midlands derby against West Bromwich Albion. The on-loan Manchester United midfielder's superbly taken low curling 10th-minute free-kick earned the Tunisian his first senior goal. He then swung over the left-wing corner from which Polish midfielder Krystian Bielik also claimed his first goal for the club seven minutes into the second half. Last time out the Blues suffered a late collapse in defeat at home to Cardiff, Perry Ng and Callum Robinson both scoring in the final ten minutes.



It was a relatively quite January window for Birmingham as they only welcomed Kevin Long in from Burnley, Manny Longelo on loan from West Ham and Reda Khadra on loan from Brighton after the winger had spent the first half of the season on loan at Sheffield United. It was even quieter in the departures column, as Przemyslaw Placheta returned to Norwich after his loan spell and Jonathan Leko left to join MK Dons near the foot of League One. 

Ones to watch

Juninho Bacuna- The mercurial midfielder always had flashes of brilliance in him, as well as streaks of naivety and petulance. He seems to have calmed down a little bit since his time at the John Smiths and it is fairly standard for him to produce something against us. The Curacao international joined Town from FC Groningen of Holland back in the Summer before our second season in the Premier League. He wasn't used too much by Wagner early on, but worked his way into a poor side by the time Siewert took over. Had a decent campaign back in the Championship and scored some crucial goals before moving north of the border to Rangers. He didn't last long at Rangers and was soon back in England to play in the midlands. 



Scott Hogan- The former Halifax striker is the top scorer for the Blues this season with 10 goals. He made his name at Rochdale before moving on to further success at Brentford. His good form there saw him get a move to Villa Park to play for Aston Villa, but he struggled to make the step up and found himself on the periphery, eventually going out on loan to the likes of Sheffield United and Stoke before a loan spell at Birmingham turned into a permanent move. Has struggled with injuries in the last few seasons, but always seems to do something against Town.

Hannibal Mejbri- Creator in chief for Birmingham since joining from Manchester United, the fiery youngster has registered 6 assists this season and scored a free kick against Carlos' West Brom a couple of games ago. Often deployed at the tip of a diamond, the Tunisian midfielder has picked up 10 yellows so can be easily rattled, something Warnock will be well aware off, Bacuna has 8 yellows and we know about his temperment.



team news

Town will be without Will Boyle after he was sent off against Stoke, Matty Pearson limped off and could be a doubt for Saturday. Duane Holmes remains absent, as does Danny Ward most likely, Kamberi has dropped off the face of the earth alongside Ben Jackson, Jordan Rhodes could be back in contention after missing Wednesdays game through illness.

It doesn't seem as if there are major problems for Birmingham for the weekend, Troy Deeney could return to the line up in place of former Town loanee Lukas Jutkwisjvke. Former Halifax and Barnsley man Marc Roberts is due to return to training this week but Saturday could be too soon, Kevin Long will return from illness, but Reda Khadra will miss out, younger brother of Jude Bellingham, Jobe is also out.

Its very even between the two sides really, with Town having won 43 of the meetings, with Birmingham winning 40, there has been 35 draws between the sides. Last season the two sides drew at the John Smiths Stadium 0-0, whilst Town won 2-0 away at St Andrews, Levi Colwill scored a goal on his birthday with Lewis O'Brien grabbing the second, tapping into an unguarded net. The game also saw Birmingham revert to their old name of Small Heath Alliance for one game in ode to Peaky Blinders or something.


anagrams

1) A Known Relic
2) Just Each One
3) Imbue Bum Ear
4) Orally Tip Historian
5) A Bored Fjord

[Lord Snooty]

Nice one, jjamez.

Bacuna has toned down his hairstyle since moving to Birmingham. Well, he's got too much competition in the mad hair league.

[theo_luddite]

.... "went abroad to manage Cardiff" ... nice one jjamez

[Devongone]

If you don't win this for Warnock after he flew back from New York for you then you really are down.

I feel guilty about about disliking him when I used to watch him at Saltergate. I even like his missus, she sounds great! You are lucky to have him!

[Lord Snooty]

2) John Eustace

---

5) Joe Bradford

[theo_luddite]

If you don't win this for Warnock after he flew back from New York for you then you really are down.

Snoots will correct this if I've got it wrong Devon ...

Now I'm not saying footballers are superstitious bastards, but they are.

Our recent home record v Brum (some not so recent)

League

Played 13
Won 0
Drawn 9
Lost 4

Our last home League win was 8th October 1996, 19 bloody 96.

Our last home win v Brum was

FA Cup 3rd Round 2-1 - 5th January 2008

If there's a team we are well overdue a win against, it's this one.

[theo_luddite]

Anyone else been out buying bread, fish and wine today? Yes? No?

Only me and Colin on the miracle trail so far then for tomorrow.

---

Lee Mason: Official leaves referees' body PGMOL after VAR error.
Lee Mason will no longer officiate in the Premier League after leaving referees' body PGMOL by mutual consent.

The 51-year-old's departure comes days after his mistake during Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Brentford.

Mason, as the Video Assistant Referee, did not draw the guidelines to check for offside on Ivan Toney's equaliser.

Yeah, but who left after we were robbed at Wembley? Same crap decisions made by similarly crap officials also not doing their job properly.

Not so much as an apology, let alone a resignation.

[Lord Snooty]

Warnock said in his presser yesterday that now Howard Webb is in charge of refereeing, things will change. Looks like he was right if he's sacked Mason.

---

You're right about the Brum results, theo. We've a fairly decent record down at theirs, but at home, it's ridiculous.

That FA Cup win was when they were in the Premier League and we were League One. In the league, I think Steve Bruce was in their team when we last won at home against them.

If Warnock can get us a win in this one, he will be hailed as the Messiah!

---

Cardiff winner in injury time and all of a sudden we are now 5 points adrift.

[Lord Snooty]

And all of a sudden Ward and Helik are fit again.

---

Town’s team vs Birmingham City
41. Nicholas Bilokapic
6. Jonathan Hogg ©
16. Joseph Hungbo
18. David Kasumu
22. Jack Rudoni
24. Etienne Camara
25. Danny Ward
32. Tom Lees
38. Matthew Lowton
39. Michał Helik
48. Jaheim Headley

Substitutes
Jordan Smith; Josh Koroma, Josh Ruffels, Tyreece Simpson, Brahima Diarra, Martyn Waghorn, Anthony Knockaert

[theo_luddite]

Aye, makes you wonder doesn't it? Was Hogg really injured from the day Frothy walked in until he eventually picked him again?